Landscaper: Romney Never Insisted Employees Be Legal

The landscaper who Mitt Romney fired earlier this week for continuing to employ illegal immigrants says the termination boils down to little more than politics.

The GOP presidential candidate cut ties with Ricardo Saenz, of Community Lawn Service in Chelsea, Mass., in anticipation of a Boston Globe article reporting that the company employed undocumented workers a year after the hiring practices were first revealed. Romney said he gave the company a second chance and that "the company's failure to comply with the law is disappointing and inexcusable."

But Saenz told FOX25 in Boston that Romney did not demand that the company not employ illegal immigrants.

"They never asked me. I present my bid for the price and they say to me, '(Come) back,' that's it," Saenz said, speculating that the presidential race drove the high-profile termination after 11 years of service.

The lawn service company has provided endless fodder for Romney's rivals on the campaign trail — frontrunner Rudy Giuliani said during a debate last week that Romney ran a "sanctuary mansion" by allowing illegals to work on Romney's home. Giuliani's criticism came in response to claims that as mayor of New York, Giuliani permitted a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.

Saenz also insisted to the Globe that the workers he hired were legal, but he did not show reporters their papers.